


An Unusual Encounter

by Moontune



Series: Bendy and the Prompt Machine [8]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, One Shot, Reader-Insert, Sammy doesn't really contribute much to the story he's just kinda in the background here, prompt, request
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-26 02:00:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20036011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moontune/pseuds/Moontune
Summary: Henry enters the studio once more, losing count of how many times he's been through this endless cycle. What he doesn't anticipate this time around, however, is a stranger finding their way into the studio.





	An Unusual Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> **The content of this story was written by AO3 user Moontune (@moon--toon on Tumblr) for non-profit consumption. Please do not share to other media platforms or view through unofficial reader applications - _especially for-profit platforms and applications._**

“Alright Joey, I'm here. Let’s see if I can find what you wanted me to see.”

Henry said this for what could have very well been the millionth time. How many cycles was this now? He once kept a tally early on, but had long since lost track of it. By now, the entire entry hallway was covered in tally marks that only he could see through his seeing-eye tool.

Heaving out a sigh, he trudged forward into the studio, not trying to turn and leave. He already tried that a few times in his earliest loops, but it was locked shut every time.

God, he was tired. He was so, so tired of reliving this same goddamned loop over and over. He knew where everything was, who everyone was, and what they would all say in any given scenario.

Letting out a tired groan, he collapsed in a chair stationed by the workbench. He listened to the turning of the reels on the wall and the old music playing from the projector nearby. If he really strained his ears, he could hear Sammy playing his usual tune in the locked room down the hall. There was the occasional creak of wood from the long-abandoned building, adding to the ambiance he was accustomed to.

But he then noticed a noise he didn’t expect to hear.

Footsteps. They were faint, and so quiet he thought he had imagined them. But after he stood up and turned off the projector to get rid of the overlapping noise, he could still hear them if he strained his ears.

He nearly tripped over himself as he scrambled to run and find the source, flailing around the studio like a chicken with its head cut off.

Checking the animator’s room, he found nothing that could be the source of the mysterious footsteps, and the sound he heard was gone. Whoever it was, they hadn’t been in there.

As he left the paper-filled room, Henry wracked his mind as he thought of the possible source of the unknown footsteps. Was it Sammy? No, no, the music was still playing in his locked room… unless he was walking around while playing? Then again, he never did before, and there wasn’t much space to walk around in that tiny closet.

Perhaps Alice? Nah, she was always deadly silent when she walked. He wouldn’t be able to hear her even if she was right behind him.

Was it The Projectionist? One of the Butchers? Boris? Allison? Tom?

He went through a mental list of possible names, walking past Sammy’s locked door to find that the door to the break area was open, and the footsteps were replaced with a quiet repeated thudding. Like someone was gently tapping the wall.

He stopped dead at the door, listening to the tapping as Sammy’s song played in the background. The soft taps happened in intervals of three, and he found no established rhythm to them.

Taking a deep breath, Henry walked slowly down the stairs of the room, looking over the rail to find… a person. An actual, real life human being, throwing darts at the dart board in front of them.

Coming to an immediate halt when he processed the situation, he remained up on the top of the staircase, leaning over the wooden rail as he watched the stranger carelessly toss darts at the wall. The wood creaked loudly at his sudden weight, causing the person to look up at him.

Henry didn’t bother hiding the shock present on his face. In the hundreds of thousands of cycles he lived through, he never once saw this person. They couldn’t be an old employee like he had been – they looked_ well _under thirty years old, and there was no trace of ink anywhere on their body.

“Oh.”

The noise came dumbly from their mouth as Henry remained speechless.

“Well… this is awkward.” The stranger laughed humourlessly, lowering the hand that held the remaining dart they hadn’t yet thrown.

Henry’s legs seemed to move on their own as he slowly walked down the stairs one step and a time. The other person waited patiently for him to come down before speaking again.

“Sorry if I scared you.” They shrugged slightly, placing their hands behind their back. “I know it’s weird to hang out in abandoned places, but…”

He stood in front of them now, staring at their face with wide eyes. He didn’t know what to say; what could he say?_ ‘Oh yeah I was just trapped living in a convoluted time loop by my old boss and I haven’t spoken to anyone other than ink creatures for as long as I can remember. It’s no big deal.’_

“Who are you?” Was all he could bring himself to ask.

“My name is (Y/N),” They answered, “I just like poking around old buildings; kind of a weird hobby of mine. I really didn’t expect to see anyone else here, to be honest.”

“Well, uh… I'm Henry.”

Words were difficult for him to come up with. How could he possibly explain the situation? Did they realize just what they had gotten themself into?

“Nice to meet you, Henry.” They smiled, holding a hand out to shake.

He finally got over his initial shock, and took their hand firmly in his. As they shook hands, he held on a moment longer than he probably should have – but a part of him was afraid they might disappear if he let go. Once he did though, they tilted their head slightly in question as they spoke again.

“Are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Blinking, Henry shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts before he answered shakily.

“Yeah, I'm fine. We should probably leave though, this place doesn’t very, uh… stable.”

(Y/N) hummed in response, looking up and around the room as the wood creaked around them.

“Mmh, I guess you’re right,” They finally said, “It’s not like anyone properly maintains these types of places, huh?”

“Come on, let’s leave before we fall through the floor.”

Henry turned, leading the way up the stairs and waiting for them to follow. They didn’t linger too far behind him, keeping up with his pace as they went back upstairs.

As soon as Henry turned left after he made his way through the open door, the light coming from Sammy’s locked room clicked off, and the music was abruptly cut off. (Y/N) peeked over his shoulder to look at the other closed door, raising an eyebrow.

“I was surprised that the electricity still worked in this place,” They spoke up, following Henry down the hall and past Sammy’s room. “But I guess it would be pretty faulty.”

To be quite honest, Henry was surprised at how calm this person was. During his first cycle, the instance that they had just witnessed now had put him on edge. He was so nervous back then…

Passing by the ominous wall writing, Henry and (Y/N) turned down to the entry at the end of the corridor. Henry’s heart pounded in his chest, as he wondered whether the floor would collapse on them to try and fix the disturbed cycle.

But his worries were soon put to rest, as the floorboards held both their weight when they walked over where Henry had fallen countless times before.

Of course, that didn’t mean they were free to leave. The door was still locked, as it always had been before. This fact didn’t seem to sway (Y/N) however, as they muttered a quick “hold on” to Henry. They then held up the dart they still kept with them, and shoved it into the lock in the doorknob before forcing it the turn, effectively snapping the locking mechanism and rendering it useless.

They opened the door, and Henry stepped outside with them, blinking up at the bright sunlight he hadn’t seen in so long.

His breath caught in his throat as he took in the colourful scenery around him. The sky was a bright and brilliant blue hue, with soft white clouds dotting the horizon. Inhaling deeply, he relished the smell of fresh air; a stark contrast to the dusty, damp air he was forced to breathe in the depths of the studio.

The cycle was broken, and by a complete stranger, no less. There was no way this person he just met had any idea what they had done, had even the slightest clue as to where they had been.

He didn’t know how they did it, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to question it.

“Jeez, it’s almost like you haven’t been outside in months. Are you sure you’re okay?”

(Y/N)’s voice snapped him out of his trance, causing him to turn his gaze over to them. They stared at him with an amused expression, arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

Henry hesitated for a moment, wondering whether or not he should tell them the truth. He could easily lie, and let them go on with their life as if nothing had happened and that he was just a strange man they met in a strange place that they’ll likely never see again.

But… they deserved better than that. They deserved to know what happened down there, and he owed it to all the souls trapped in that accursed studio to tell _someone_ about what was going on down there.

They might not believe him, but he might as well try.

“I… haven’t, actually.” He finally answered, looking back at the studio entrance. The door hung open, as neither of them had closed it behind them.

He saw how their eyes widened at his words, and then quickly followed up with more.

“It’s a long story, really. And it might sound crazy, especially coming from someone you just met a minute ago.”

(Y/N) sighed, running a hand through their hair as they glanced back at the studio.

“Well… how about we talk about it over lunch?” They responded, “There’s a café just down the street from here. My treat.”

Once again, this person continued to baffle him. Not only did they say they’d hear him out, but they’d treat him to lunch? Just who exactly were they?

Quickly regaining his posture, Henry offered a warm, thankful smile and nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’d appreciate that.”

Following them down the sidewalk, Henry finally allowed himself to relax, soaking in the warm sunlight as a cool breeze ruffled his clothes.

The cycle was finally broken.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written in a different point of view from what I usually write - I mostly just wanted to experiment a bit and see how well it worked


End file.
